A temperate deciduous forest.

Soil The experiments and photos on these pages concern the soil found in a temperate deciduous forest, the kind found in the Paris area.. The photos were taken at the end of the summer in a forest called la Forêt Domaniale de Montmorency, north of Paris.   Contents:   How is Soil Made? (below) What is Soil?  (From the video seen in class)

How is soil made?

Activity 1

Observe four the photos below.  Each photo was taken looking directly down towards the ground from a distance of about 50 cm.  They show what happens to leaves after they have fallen off the trees.  For the transition from one photo to the next, many weeks pass.

A. B.  

C. D.

1. Describe what you see in each photo A to D.    

2. What happens to the leaves over time?

3. What is the cause of this change?  Use what we have learned in class and in the book to explain.

4. Which layer is shown in photos A and B?

5. Which layer is shown in photos C and D?

Activity 2

1. Look at the leaf being held in the picture on the right.  In what ways does it look different from when it was still living on the tree?  
2. What has happened to this leaf?  
3. In which type of biome do you think it was found?

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